


Pocket Player

by theminiummark



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Getting Together, M/M, Magical Realism, sid gets shrunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 20:13:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21584587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theminiummark/pseuds/theminiummark
Summary: Sidney wakes in the morning feeling...off.
Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin
Comments: 43
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

Sidney wakes in the morning feeling...off. His skin is tight, like a sunburn. His head echoes as if he didn't get any rest the night before. The team flew in on a late flight last night from Vancouver, where they played to round out their Western Canadian road trip. He didn’t remember feeling like this at any point before he had crashed out in his bed, exhausted and travel worn. 

He shrugs off the feeling and makes his way to the en suite bathroom, blearily looking in the mirror. A sharp, squeezing sensation ripples through him. His breath goes out of him in a rush, hissing between his clenched teeth. Then he feels a pop right under his breastbone and spots flash across his vision. Dizzy, he clutches at the countertop as darkness envelopes him.

He comes awake slowly. Sidney’s not sure where he is and at first, he hears only the echoing silence and his pounding heart. He finds himself trapped within some type of cloth. By the time he works his head free to look around, all he can do is stare around in shock. 

He must have hit his head or something, because this has to be a dream or hallucination. He crouches, naked, in a pile of his underwear and huddles on the rug in his bathroom. His bathroom that is now ten times larger than it was just moments ago. So, either everything is bigger, or he is much smaller. 

He takes stock of his body. He feels sore, like he does after a hard workout and like his skin is too small, too tight. Nothing really abnormal feels wrong, though, so he turns his attention taking on his situation.

The first thing he needs are clothes. He already feels vulnerable enough. He walks cautiously over to the vanity and heaves the door to the cabinet open. He grabs a washcloth, which he wraps around his waist like a towel. 

Satisfied for now, Sidney begins the trek back to his room. Now that he is clothed, he needs to figure out what the hell is going on, if is just him, or has the whole world gone mad.

_/ _/ _/

Olli is confused. Not worried, per se, but definitely not sitting comfortable in his pads, either. 

Sid is late. 

A fact the whole room is feeling. The rookies are passing increasingly alarmed looks to each other. Geno’s stopped talking, glaring at Sid’s empty stall like it will suddenly reveal their easter while captain. Matt finally has enough and goes to find the coaching staff. 

He comes back a few minutes later, smile strained and a tightness around his shoulders.

“Sid’s not answering his phone.”

The room, predictably, turned cold and silent. Matt shakes his head at them. 

“Someone from the medical staff is going to check on him. Practice is still scheduled. Let’s go.”

Like a bully that everyone accused him of being, Geno shoulders his way out of the room and is the first on the ice. 

\\_ \\_ \\_

Sid stared up at his dresser drawers. He huffed in frustration, hands on his hips. All the while, his phone rang out it’s pithy ringtone. With no way for Sid to get to it, he was stuck listening as to what sounded like the entire Penguins organization tried to get a hold of him. 

Well, staring up at the smooth, insurmountable face of his suite of drawers, he wished he had picked out the set with _nobbs._ Although, he never did think that he would need to use them to climb. 

Shaking his head, Sid decided he needed to look at this differently. He was focused on the wrong things, here. He was still looking at the world as if he were his normal size. Well, now he wasn’t, so he couldn’t very well do things the same way. 

Taking a look around, he ventured around the side of the set of drawers, looking for a safer, more viable, way to the top. As he looked behind the furniture, a thought occurred to him. All of his appliances were plugged into the the power strip behind the dresser. Maybe he could use one to climb up the dresser. 

Congratulating himself on a brilliant deduction, Sid started to shimmy behind the dresser, when his doorbell echoed around the house. Sid startled so badly he banged his knee and his elbow while trying to get out from behind this God awful dresser. 

Righting his towel, Sidney started toward the stairs. By the time he stood at the head of them (glaring down at the decision not to carpet them and now impossible to save himself some bruising), he was out of breath and the doorbell had stopped ringing. He sat down on the landing, letting his legs dangle over the edge. He then turned to his belly and allowed himself to scoot and drop onto the next step down.

Four stairs and two towel adjustments later, the doorbell sounded again, accompanied by a fist pounding on the door with his name shouted out. Sid recognized Andy’s voice and tried to make it down to the landing faster. 

He was almost to the bottom when Andy walked away from the door. Sidney tried shouting, but Andy didn’t come back. Not a minute later, Sidney heard his phone from upstairs start blasting out his ringtone. Sidney sat down on the stair he found himself on and put his head in his hands. 

Fuck. This really wasn’t what he had planned for today. 


	2. Chapter 2

Sidney crawled over the top of the dresser and stood, with his hands on his hips, surveying his room, like a king to his kingdom atop his castle wall. He panted as he caught his breath from the climb. 

Feeling proud of himself for his feat, he fussed with his towel until it was wrapped securely around his waist again. He had to remove it to make the climb; it wouldn’t have stayed in place. He had slung it over his shoulder, and shimmied up the TV cord. Now that everything was back in its place, Sidney padded over the top of the dresser to his phone. 

Kneeling beside it, he pushed the button to turn on the screen and tapped out the password with his whole hand. It was like looking down at a pool-table sized phone. Checking the number of texts and missed calls, Sid decided to start with texts first. He was barely through the first two texts from Duper, before he suddenly heard voices coming from the floor below. 

Sidney froze. He listened carefully, relief flooding him as he recognized Nathalie and Mario’s voices. Relief that quickly turned to a horrified embarrassment. He couldn’t let them see him like this! Not until he knew what was going on! Looking around him frantically, Sid dove for the back of the dresser as the voices moved up the stairs. 

He had shimmied about halfway down the cord, when he paused, bracing himself on the wall and the back of the bureau. He held his breath as Mario walked into his bedroom. 

He heard him pause in the middle of the room, before his footsteps carried him to the dresser. Mario picked up the phone and cursed as he noticed it still plugged in, charging from the night before. 

“Cher, he isn’t here,” called Mario, worry making his voice short. His voice got a little softer as he went to join Nathalie in the hallway. “And everything is still here. His phone, keys, the cars. Hell, the bathroom light is still on. It’s like he just...left.”

“What did Trina say, when you called?”

“Nothing. Sid hasn’t talked with them since just after the game last night…” Their voices trailed off as they moved back down the hall to the stairs. 

Sid blew out a frustrated breath of air. All that effort, now his phone was gone with Mario. He realized staying wedged behind a piece of his furniture was most definitely not going to help him figure out why he was suddenly so small. He slid the rest of the way down the cord like a fireman on a pole, running his hands through his hair when he emerged from behind the dresser. 

He needed to figure this out, and quickly. Why was it always him?

\\_ \\_ \\_ 

Trina’s hands were shaking. She stared down at the table top, still feeling the shock of the phone call she just received. 

Sidney was missing. Of all the things she thought she would hear through the phone about her son, this was one she had honestly not considered. Missing. How does a twenty-eight year old superstar hockey player go _missing_ without anyone noticing?

And from what Mario had said, it looked like he had simply got out of bed and vanished. The bathroom light had been left on. His phone, wallet, keys...all there, but no Sidney. 

Gathering her thoughts, Trina picked the phone back up and dialed Troy. They needed to get to Pittsburgh. Her son was missing, and the hell if anyone thought that they would stay in Canada while waiting to see if he showed up. 

When Troy picked up, she had to swallow hard, trying not to let her fear get in the way of the urgency she had to express. She swallowed back tears and began telling the hardest news she had ever had to share with her husband. Troy wasn’t surprised; he had heard from Mario and was making his excuses to take a leave of absence. Trina held on to the steady sound of his voice as he talked her through what they were going to do.

Twenty minutes later she was packed and headed out to meet him at the airport. 

_/ _/ _/

“We have some grave news to share.”

General Manager, Jim Rutherford, stared down at the assembled press with a seriousness he was feeling down in his bones. Like with Olli and Pascal, this was personal, beyond the call of the business that he loved. 

“This morning, Sidney Crosby did not show for a required practice and was unable to be reached by phone, “ he continued, his eyes on the podium, voice stern. “Sidney leads by example in this organization, and his absence is a concern. Following a check on his home, we believe that Sidney is a missing person.”

He took a fortifying breath and looked out at the crowd, all of whom were stunned with silence. 

“We have involved the Allegheny County Sheriff's Department and have listed Sidney as a missing person. If anyone has any information on his whereabouts, we ask that you contact the Sheriff's Office or use their anonymous interactive tip available on their website.”

He tried to keep any emotion out of his voice, as he looked toward the Pen’s TV crew and gave his final message. 

“Sidney’s parents are arriving in Pittsburgh later this evening and we will be updating the fans as we know more. At this time, we thank all of our fans for their support.”

“I’ll take any questions now.”


	3. Chapter 3

Sidney was moping. 

He sat on the top stair, after realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere in his bedroom. He made it to the stairs, determined, before the looming emptiness of his house stretched out before him, and he just sat down and found it really hard to get back up again. 

This wasn’t like a hockey injury. Those had reason. They were part of the cost of playing the sport he loved. Shrinking? That was out of the scope of anything he could ever imagine happening to him. 

He sat there for a while, watching the sun track across the walls through the windows. Then his stomach growled. Placing his hand on his stomach, new determination filled him. He may not be in control of what happened, but that was in the past. He could control what he did here and now, and the first order of business: food. 

With a new direction, Sidney began his trek down the stairs. He could do this, one step at a time. 

_/ _/ _/

Sid realized that his kitchen was not as organized as he thought it was. Well, maybe it's more that it's organized for a regular sized person and for one shrunk it's really not manageable. He wished he didn't put everything to eat in all of the upper cabinets, because now he had a very unique challenge in finding things he would be able to reach. 

There was no way that he was going to be able to open the door to the pantry, where all of the easy things to eat were. Things like protein bars and granola; cereal and his cheat day candy. Luckily, he could get into the refrigerator with lots of effort.

He shivered as the cool air flowed over him. He looked up into the stocked shelves and drawers and rolled his shoulders. 

He could do this. It couldn’t be as difficult as climbing his chest of drawers, right?

After some careful consideration, he decided to go for what he could actually see and might be able to get to. The crisper drawers were in reach, and he could see blueberries in their little baskets in one, and some shredded turkey in the next that could make a meal.

Sid grunted with effort as he pulled the drawer out. He’s never been so glad that he didn’t have much in his fridge right now. A full drawer would have been so much harder to open. Still, he managed and hefted himself up and over to reap his reward. 

He took off his towel toga and filled it with a few blueberries before he dropped it out of the drawer and clambered out after it. It was easy enough to shut the drawer and start the process all over to get the turkey.

He shut the fridge and felt pretty satisfied he managed to feed himself. 

\\_ \\_ \\_ 

Sidney set up his nest in his thick woolen throw on his deep seated leather armchair with his bundle of shredded turkey and a few blueberries. 

Sidney decided to camp out in the living room. Since he abandoned his phone to Mario, he needed a direct way to get in touch with the outside world. He vaguely mused a plan of trying to get into his laptop bag, and maybe using skype or email, but it was all hypotheticals at this point. He wasn’t sure how that was going to work, or even if he could manage getting to his laptop, let alone getting it out of its bag, so he shelved that for tomorrow. 

His next best idea was to get some idea on what was happening to him. He knew, from seeing Mario and hearing Nathalie and Andy, he was most likely the only player affected. Which, wasn’t _that_ just fucking great. Of course, _he_ would be the one to have somehow been shrunk to a useless size. 

So. Just him. 

Now to check the fall out. 

He found the remote to his TV right where he last left it. Maneuvering it over to his little nest was awkward and cumbersome, but he managed. Settling in as comfortably as he could, he pressed the power button and started in on munching a blueberry. 

This is going to be a shitshow. He just knew it.

_/_/_/

Sid startled out of his sleep at the sound of the door from the garage opening. He jerked into a sitting position before freezing in place. 

He listened closely, as he had heard voices, but they were muffled and indistinct. There were only a few people who had his codes to the gate and garage, three of which were out of the state. 

Knowing Mario as he did, though, Sid figured it should be his parents. Unsure of what to do, he remained hunkered down in his nest on his chair and waited for whomever it was to come closer. 

He was still weighing his options for action, when a familiar blonde head peeked around the wide door frame to the den, before the rest of his sister followed. Taylor took a cursory look around, before slumping onto the couch with a sigh. Sid just watched her, head just barely poking over a fold of blanket. 

She tipped her back to rest along the back of the couch, her eyes closed, lips pursed like his did sometimes. 

“God fucking damnit, Sid,” she said in a harsh exhale. “What. the. Hell.”

Sid stopped breathing. Had she seen him? What would he say? Should he say anything?

Before his mind was made up, he spotted his parents through the doorway. He hadn’t seen his dad hold his mom in that way before. As though she might fly apart at a moment’s notice. He couldn’t hear what they were discussing, but he could see the worry on his dad’s face. 

He turned back to look at Taylor, and his heart broke to see tears in her eyes. She was trying hard to keep it together, but was losing her composure quickly. She buried her face in her hands, taking deep breaths. 

His parents came in and sat on either side of her, arms holding them all close. Sid knew no matter what humiliation he was facing, it was nothing in the face of his family's pain. Having made up his mind, Sidney unearthed himself from his blanket and shuffled to the edge of the chair, clutching his washcloth around him in self consciousness. 

He cleared his throat. It was enough to get their attention. He tried a little louder, but they barely twitched in his direction. Taking a deep breath, he hoped his voice carried enough.

“Mom? Dad?”

His mother was the first to react, lifting her head from Taylor’s shoulder to look around confused. 

“Trina, what is it?”

His dad was watching his mom worried, and Taylor brushed the tears from her face, casting her eyes back and forth between her parents, before she caught Sid’s eyes.

“Oh my God!” She exclaimed, standing abruptly. “Sid?!”

His mom swung her head to where Taylor was staring at him in shocked horror, her own mouth dropping open, hand going to her breast. 

“Sidney?” she breathed.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

The room exploded as they rushed to him. He couldn’t help the relieved smile. Things were already looking better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

“We found Sidney.”

Mario managed to not drop his phone. He had been expecting to go through more reassurances with Troy, updates that meant nothing, because they had no leads, no information...no hope. 

“What?!”

“We found Sidney, but, well,” here Troy cut off with a burst of air more forceful than a sigh. “Well, he’s not exactly...himself.”

“What do you mean?”

“You better just come see for yourself.”

Mario managed some sort of verbal assent to Troy before he disconnected. Mario’s head buzzed in a haze of questions as he toed into his shoes and grabbed his keys, driving quickly over to Sidney’s house. 

Where had Sid been all this time? Was he hurt? And what the fuck did it mean that ‘he wasn’t himself?’ Troy hadn’t seemed concerned over Sid’s health, just confused? Bewildered? As Mario parked and walked up the path to Sid’s front door, he braced himself. He hoped to God whatever he found, he could fix. 

\\_ \\_ \\_

Mario stared at Sidney. Sid felt the weight of the stare even more than usual. He tried not to shift under the scrutiny. The fact that he was only dressed in a washcloth was definitely not helping matters. 

Finally, Mario let out a deep sigh, settling back into the sofa, crossing his legs and pinching his nose as he closed his eyes in thought. Sid knew he was just processing the shock at finding Sid less than himself, but this was the part that Sid had been dreading since the moment he realized his reality altered so drastically. 

“Alright,” said Mario, looking at Sid again. “Do you know how it happened?”

Sid shook his head, looking down at himself. “No, I woke up feeling strange. When I walked into the bathroom, it felt like I was being squeezed. I felt something pop in my chest before everything spun and I passed out. When I came to, I was like this.” 

“And nothing was different? Nothing out of the ordinary when you got home?”

“No, not that I can remember.”

Mario let out a hum in thought before standing. “I’m going to make some calls,” he says, taking out his phone as he turned to walk from the room. At the door, he faced Sid, leveling him with a long look, the kind he used to give Sid on the bench before he would jump the boards. “We’ll figure this out, Sid. For now, though, I think it’s best kept between a few need-to-know people, okay?”

Sid nodded, relieved. He really didn’t want to think about what would happen if the press got wind of his condition. It’s not so easily described as a lower-body injury. He just happened to be suddenly six inches tall. 

He hoped whoever Mario talked with had more answers that he did, though. He was already tired of feeling helpless. 

_/ _/ _/

“What the fuck does that mean,” Kris grated out. 

Flower gave him a look to forestall anything more, taking in Rutherford as he shared the news. Flower still wasn't sure if it's good, though. What he was hearing was so vague, that now Flower was convinced that something was really wrong with Sid.

“...know that he is safe at his home, and we'll be seeing the best specialists the organization has to offer. Give him the space he needs to get back on his skates, and I’m sure we’ll see him back soon.”

The room was absolutely silent as Rutherford left, the coaching staff following soon after. Flower looked around at the guys, taking in the nervous glances of the rookies, the dark glower Geno was giving the logo on the floor. He looked up and met Tanger’s furious eyes. 

“We’re not just going to let this alone, are we?” hissed Tanger in bitten out French. “There is no way that Sid is ‘just fine, resting at home.’”

“Something is very wrong,” Flower agreed. “I’m going to drop by his house today. You in?” Geno and Tanger nodded, neither one losing their dark expression. Flower couldn’t shake the twisted, sinking feeling in his stomach that something was wrong. One way or another, they would find out what was going on with Sid _today._

\\_ \\_ \\_

Or not. Flower stared at Geno and Tanger in wide-eyed disbelief. Troy Crosby had been polite, yet very firm when he met the three of them at the door. 

“I’m sorry,” Troy said, quietly. “Sid can’t have any visitors right now. When he is able, he’ll call you.”

He hadn’t even invited them into the house, just delivered the message and shut the door again, leaving Flower flummoxed, Tanger visibly shocked, and Geno...Geno boiled with fury. Flower hadn’t seen him like this off the ice. 

Flower herded them back to his SUV and he searched the windows, hoping to catch even a glimpse of Sid, silly as it sounded. The fact that Sid was unable to see them, _his team_ , who had been together through so much made Flower feel very cold. He was brought back suddenly to the dark days of Sid’s concussions, the days where Sid simply could not have anyone around. He was terrified for Sid now. 

All they could do now, though, was their best. Keep the team doing well, so that if - _when_ \- Sid returned, it would be to their success. They had to hold on to all hope that all was not lost yet. 

_/ _/ _/

Sid watched them go with a heavy heart. He knew he hurt them, and in turn hurt himself by keeping his condition a secret. He didn’t know how to even begin to explain something like this. It was hard enough to explain to his parents and to Mario. 

His dad struggled as it was. Troy proved himself the type to go in and try and fix what was causing harm to his family. Sid always knew that his dad would do anything to protect him and make him happy. The fact that the answers to how this could have happened made it all the more devastating. There was nothing to fight, just open ended questions. Sid heard rumors for years of mishaps, like this, happening across the league, but that is all they had been. Rumors. 

To find himself living out one of those rumors, well, it had Sid shrunk and feeling so lost in a world far too big for him now. He really, really hated this feeling. 

Mario employed a private investigator, hit with an airtight non-disclosure agreement and just enough information, that they all hoped they might find out what, or maybe who, caused Sid's transformation. 

He tried to keep a brave face for his parents, but he knew he wasn’t succeeding. Especially not with his mom. She knew him too well. With that knowing, she also left him be, for which he was grateful. He knew she was there when he needed her. 

For now, through the waiting, Sid tried to keep the anxiety from swallowing him whole. 


	5. Chapter 5

“So, you need clothes.”

Sid jerked from his thoughts at Taylor’s announcement. 

“I mean, you can really pull off the toga towel look, Sid, but wouldn’t you like actual clothes?”

Sid just looked at her, both brows raised. He shrugged, trying his best not to look too lost, because he was. 

“And where do you think we would get clothes small enough to fit me?”

“I’ve been thinking about that, actually,” Taylor says, a gleam of mischief in her eye. “And I think I have a plan.”

Sid looked at her warily. “Okay….”

“Feel up for a drive to Mario’s?”

_/ _/ _/

Sid settled into the cup holder, and looked up with a little trepidation at his mom in the driver’s seat. Taylor settled gleefully in the passenger side, clicking her seat belt into place. She grinned down at Sid. 

“Nathalie said they had a ton of Barbie clothes left from when everyone was younger, so we should be able to find you some stuff that will fit.”

Sid wasn’t so sure. He had a hard enough time finding clothes that fit on a regular basis, not to mention the thought of wearing doll clothes was not high on his bucket list. 

“Buck up, Sid,” Trina said brightly. “This should be fun!”

Sid rolled his eyes, and just gripped the sides of the cup holder firmly. Fun. Right. He would be lucky to get out of this experience with his dignity still intact. 

\\_ \\_ \\_

“Sid, you have to come out of there sooner or later.” His sister sounded so exasperated. Sid huffed out a breath as he tugged at the clothes he wore one more time. He currently hid behind the door in the guest bathroom trying, in what felt like a lost cause, to find something that would work for him to wear. 

The clothes were better than a towel. But they were not all that awesome, either. Clearly made for little people (although not as little as him) to put onto dolls about his size, they were not made for a lot of movement. Every time he bent over, the velcro that kept the back of his pants together came apart, and he ended up flashing the room. 

Well, it’s not like they were going to let him stay in the bathroom forever. He gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to cross himself like at the beginning of a game, and he went out to face them. They love him, but they will probably chirp him for this until the end of time. 

Stunned disbelief that hushed the room when Sid came out. He just stared at them, his face as emotionless as he could make it before all three women were giggling and cooing over him. 

“Sid, that shirt really shows off your shoulders.”

“At least you don’t have to worry about accidentally showing to the world what God gave you.”

“Who knew that hockey ass, no matter on how small a man, will always be a challenge.”

They all laughed at him, and Sid tried to keep his own smile under control. But really, if you couldn’t laugh at a time like this, you might as well give up now. 

\\_ \\_ \\_

Sid’s jaw clenched as he worked over the words he caught behind his teeth. He wanted to shout at Mario, to let out the anger and frustration at his situation fly at him. He realized, though, that he wasn’t to blame and even if Mario was wrong, he respected Sidney to talk with him as a peer. Sidney owed him his respect back. 

“I understand what you are saying, Mario,” Sid said, each word measured and tested on his tongue. “But I don’t believe you are right in this case. This is _my_ team. I’m their captain. It can only help them to let them know about this now.”

“Sid, it’s like you didn’t hear anything I just said.”

“I’m going to go to practice tomorrow, whether you like it or not,“ he said, firmly. “It’s a closed practice. You can call Jim and give him a heads up, or not. This is a conversation, not me asking for permission.”

Sid couldn’t walk off to end the conversation like he wanted to, being six inches tall really didn’t add any intimidation or resolve to his stance against Mario’s opinion. All he could do now was sit in awkward silence, staring anywhere but at Mario. 

At his current size, Mario could even pick him up and put him someplace he couldn’t get out of, just to control what Sid did until this was resolved. He counted on Mario’s affection and general respect of him to let him do this. 

For all that he said that the team needed this, Sid knew this was more about himself. He needed the team. Feeling this helpless, it was like being locked inside of his head all over again, his body betraying him. He wanted his team at his back. As lost as he felt now, it could only get better if he could talk with his team about this. 

Keeping this from them was killing him. 

Mario seemed to get it, after long, heavy moments of Mario looking and Sid looking anywhere but at Mario. 

“Alright, Sid,” he said, voice strained. “Alright. But we do this the right way.”

Sid only nodded, smiling again, listening intently as Mario talked him through how this would have to go.

Finally. 

_/ _/ _/

Going into Consol was fucking surreal. 

First of all, everything was so much bigger. Even though he expected it, it still shocked him how the lobby echoed and seemed infinitely larger than life. Even though he was intimately familiar with the arena, it made him feel intimidated. 

Secondly, being escorted into the arena in his dad’s arms like a child was thoroughly humiliating. At least he had talked them out of carrying him in a bag. Instead he was settled under his dad’s coat, shielded from view as much as possible, really, really wishing that either he would just magically return to normal size when they entered the room, or that he would shrink completely away. 

Anything had to be better than this. 

The only bright spot in all of this was the fact that he would get to see his team. He would be closer to hockey. Maybe they all would feel better about the situation than they did now. 

He tried to not let how all of the guys would react psych him out of his resolve to integrate back into the team while he and the rest of the team leadership focused on a solution. A way to get back to his normal body. 

Seriously, being tiny sounds cool, but Sid was over it. 

They neared the room, and Sid took a deep breath. The walk through the arena passed more quickly than Sid was prepared for. Clenching his jaw and pursing his lips, he nodded in response to his dad's silent question in the long pause in front of the doors. 

Time to bite the bullet. 

His dad pulled the door open and the quiet conversations stopped dead. The silence and stillness was unnerving and Sid could feel the weight of each of their eyes as they all gained their speech back after the shock of seeing him in his dad's arms. 

Then everyone began speaking at once. 

“What the _fuck,_ Sid?”

“Wha - why? How are you so small?”

“No, really, what the actual fuck - “

“This is not anything remotely normal.”

Sid waited it out for a few minutes, then asked his dad to take him over to his stall. He stood on the wooden seat he’s sat on hundreds of times before and almost got caught up in cataloging the differences from his size. He pushed that away as the team started huddling around him, and waited until he had everyone's attention. 

“So I guess I should start off by saying I'm just as surprised as you are? And we still don't know how it happened, but obviously I'm somehow shrunk?”

It all just sort of falls out of his mouth. Anything he had planned to say specifically was a blank whiteboard in his head. No diagrammed plays now, he's going in blind now. The guys shocked stares certainly don't help in the slightest.

Or the unknowns. The whys. They don't help either.

His mouth just seemed to continue on without him, though.

“I thought it would be best to tell you what is happening, but it's got to be kept in the room. At least until we figure out what caused the...shrinkage? And how to reverse it.”

And just like that, his words and his mouth abandon him, and he's left with a silent and somber room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sid finally lets the team in! Yay! 
> 
> Thanks for reading along and sticking with this story, even with the sporadic updates. Hopefully real life will let me get the rest of this story out!

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this...over four years ago. Some players have moved! You may have read some of this on my tumblr, as well. But, I really want to finish this, so I'm posting this in parts in an effort to push myself to finish this. Feedback, questions, and kudos are all greatly appreciated.


End file.
